and very recently just in the last few weeks detroit, the city of detroit, filed for bankruptcy, the largest municipal bankruptcy in u.s. history. other large states and local communities are teetering on the verge of bankruptcy. many states in horrible fiscal situations like california and illinois. meanwhile, mr. president, we are are not in a fundamentally sounder place here in washington at the federal level. even if we stick to the budget control act numbers -- and that's very much up in the air, but even if we stick to those numbers, congress will spend $967 billion in discretionary money this year and that will result in an $810 billion deficit, almost a trillion-dollar deficit this year. this nation total is almost $17 trillion in debt, and the federal reserve, its balance sheet has swollen from $800 billion in august of 2007 to over $3.5 trillion today. and so, mr. president, now more than ever, s. 101, the state and local government bailout prevention act, is appropriate, is needed, and that's why i come to the floor today to urge expeditious passage of s. 101. this bill is